The Little Book of Aston Martin

By Philip Raby

The little book of Aston Martin tells the story of one of Great Britain's most coveted motoring marques. Aston Martin as formed in the 1920s and has had a rollercoaster ride ever since, often with financial struggles and with a number of changes of ownership. Yet against all odds, this small company has managed to produce some of the most beautiful sports cars ever seen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: G2 Rights
• Release date: Nov 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781782819547

Book preview

Introduction

The famous Aston Martin winged badge

ASTON MARTIN – THOSE TWO SIMPLE words conquer up exciting images in any car enthusiast’s mind. Images of power, speed and elegance with a dash of suavity thrown in.

Above all, perhaps, Aston Martin conveys an image of Britishness. Ask anyone to name a British high-performance car, and Aston Martin should be top of their list.

As with most British marques, Aston Martin has had more than its fair share of troubles over the years; usually financial. However, against all odds, has survived and evolved over the years to be the respected brand it is today.

Many other British car manufacturers have either gone by the wayside, or their brand values have become diluted. Lotus, TVR, Jaguar and even Rolls Royce all have negative connotations today, but not so Aston Martin.

Aston Martin has managed to retain its aura of exclusivity, and owning one shows that you have impeccable taste and appreciate the best things in life.

This little book gives a potted history of Aston Martin, outlining the company’s chequered background and how has evolved to be the prestige marque it is today, recognised around the world.

Exclusivity has always been a figure of the Aston Martin marque

It also features some of the most interesting and important road-going models that Aston Martin has produced over the years. Space prohibits putting them all in, but you’ll find a representative cross-section of mouthwatering machines.

There is also, of course, a section on James Bond, who has undoubtedly done wonders for Aston Martin’s image over the years. But don’t let the James Bond connection flavour your view of the marque; even without 007, an Aston Martin would still be a very cool car to own.

Chapter 1

A brief history of Aston Martin

Bamford & Martin

IT’S FUNNY TO THINK THAT, IF history had turned out just a little differently, the badge on the front of these most British of cars could have read ‘Bamford Martin’. You see, the company which started on 15 January 1913 was called Bamford & Martin, after its two founders, Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin.

Bamford was born in 1883, the son of a clergyman, and a talented engineer. Martin, on the other hand, was born in 1878 to a wealthy mining family and grew up to be an enthusiastic driver, competing in hillclimbs and trials.

The two had met at a cycling club in 1905 and soon became firm friends. Their original company was based in West London, just off the Fulham Road, and sold Singer cars. Before long, as well as the standard models, the two entrepreneurs were offering tuned versions with a claimed top speed of 70mph – a worthwhile improvement over the standard 45mph. Naturally, they were using these modified cars in competition themselves.

Before long, though, Bamford and Martin had dreams of producing their own cars – ones that offered better performance and quality than the trusty Singers. They moved to larger premises in West Kensington and, before they’d even produced a car, they’d come up with a name. Lionel Martin had had some modest success on the Aston Clinton hillclimb in the Chiltons, so it was decided that the new venture would be christened ‘Aston Martin’. And so a legend was born.

Count Louis Zborowski, winner of the Gold Vase at Brooklands. He became better known as the designer of the famous aero-engined Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

The first car to bear the Aston Martin name was built in 1915. It was a two-seater racing car powered by a modified 1389cc side-valve Coventry-Simplex engine. Very much a prototype, this car was soon nicknamed the ‘Coal Scuttle’ and Martin put it into service competing in hillclimbs and other events around the UK.

Sadly, though, the First World War put a stop to any further development and it was not until 1920 that a second prototype was built, this time with a 1487cc engine. Soon after, Bamford left the company, leaving Lionel Martin in charge. Martin did, though, have financial backing from an old school friend, Count Louis Zborowski. Zborowski was of Polish-American descent and was himself a keen racing driver and engineer. In fact, he’d already produced an outrageous, 23-litre car that had been christened ‘Chitty Bang Bang’ on account of the sound that the massive aero engine produced. Years later, Ian Fleming would base his children’s book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, on the car (by a happy coincidence, Fleming also created the James Bond character who, famously, would drive Aston Martins).

The vehicle used in the stage musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

In 1922, Zborowski himself drove an early Aston Martin – nicknamed ‘Bunny’ – at Brooklands, averaging a speed of 76mph and breaking no less than 10 world records in just 16.5 hours. In the same year, Aston Martins competed in the French Grand Prix and so the marque became a household name in the UK.

It was an exciting time and should have been a successful one, too, but it wasn’t. Lionel Martin was struggling to make ends meet because he only sold around 50 cars over two years which, despite each one costing over £700 (a huge amount of money in those days), it was simply not enough.

An Aston Martin being admired by fans at Brooklands in 1923

Another investor, Lady Charnwood, stepped in and her son, John Benson, worked with Martin to attempt to turn the company around. It didn’t work out, though, and they went into receivership in 1925, with Martin walking out for good. He returned to working with bicycles and, tragically, was killed in a biking accident in 1945.

Motor racing at Brooklands with Lionel Martin in the centre in an Aston Martin

Aston Martin Motors

THE CHARNWOOD FAMILY THEN relaunched the company a year later, renaming it Aston Martin Motors and bringing on board a Birmingham-based engineering company, Renwick & Bertelli. William Renwick and Domenico Augustus Bertelli had recently gone into business with the aim of building the best car in the world, so the idea of a tie-up with the already known Aston Martin marque was appealing.

The new company moved to the former Citroën plant in Feltham, West London, and Bertelli – known affectionately as ‘Our Bert’ – threw himself into developing cars. Bertelli proved to be, not only a talented driver and engineer, but also knew how to run a company.

Renwick & Bertelli had already developed a sophisticated 1.5-litre overhead-cam engine and this unit was used as the basis of the new cars, in place of the less reliable side-valve powerplant. Meanwhile, Bertelli’s brother, Harry, produced the bodyshells.

The key model at this stage was the Aston Martin International, which was proving to be an exceptional race and road car, and Bertelli put into place a busy racing programme to promote the marque. In 1928, an Aston Martin made its first appearance at the Le Mans 24-Hour race; an event at which the company would go on to become regular competitors. Indeed, the cars’ reliability proved a great asset on this and other endurance events.

The problem with all this competition was that it cost a lot of money and, despite Bertelli’s best efforts, Aston Martin was still not financially secure and ended up badly in debt. In 1932, therefore, it was taken over by a new investor, Sir Arthur Sutherland, who made his son, Gordon, managing director. They had big plans for Aston Martin and cut back on the motorsport spending to concentrate on developing new models. First up was the Le Mans, which replaced the International and then, in 1934, came the Mark II and the Ulster. These cars offered more comfort and sophistication than did previous Aston Martins.

A 1926 Renwick-Bertelli which was the prototype for the